The Next Life
by SisiDraig - 2
Summary: Duro waits for Agron to join him, to rekindle their brotherhood. Agron only wants to introduce to Nasir, but Duro cannot bring himself to trust the boy. (TERRIBLE SUMMARY: I'm useless at them. Rated for language only).


**D/C: The closest I've come to owning these characters is an almost tweet from MissKLaw herself - which, lets face it, isn't very close. Please don't sue.**

**A/N: I've been out of the FF game a while, but this idea demanded to be written and as it was written it seemed pointless to not post it. Comments are well received, even if it's just to tell me that Duro's characterisation and and drive within the story are a bit all over the place or that it may be the worst opening line to any FF ever.**

**Anyway, happy reading! :D **

* * *

Duro stood watching the gate. The sand was golden beneath his feet like it always was in this place. An endless expanse of perfection, but one that had stood so empty for years. He'd found himself alone among acquaintances of his brother's. Each had greeted him kindly, like a man they would know in coming lifetime but not like a brother, not as they greeted each other. Duro had only ever held one as a brother and he would see him soon enough, though in his heart, he felt this was sooner than he had wanted. Sooner than he had entreated he gods to deliver him, but foolish pride and stubborn attitude would deliver Agron to him soon enough.

The gate swung open, a mother and child entered, both gleamed with the shiny newness this place granted them. Bathed of all former hardship, they were truly free now. She looked around near frantic before bursting into tears and running into the arms of a man nearby. The child was more confused than anything. He seemed almost lost and Duro knew the feeling well.

'You wait impatiently, brother,' Duro felt the hand on his shoulder but did not turn to know the person who spoke. It was the only person who ever really spoke to him here. The only one who did not see him solely as Agron's little brother. Though he thought the man used the term "brother" too loosely.

'As would you,' he mumbled, heart fluttering as the gate opened again. This time a warrior staggered through. He kept looking down at his own body, marvelling in its cleanliness. The baths on the way to this place were spectacular. He glanced around as though in a daze before being dragged to a nearby group and being greeted like family.

'I waited patiently,' the voice agreed steadily. 'Though I did not do my waiting on this side of the gate. I have seen men torture themselves in dreams of the people who would pass through it. Wishing to see loved ones, yet wishing not to see them.'

'It is a heavy thing,' Duro agreed, turning to smile weakly at his former champion. 'To will someone to join you here. Guilt lies a great weight upon such thoughts.'

'No longer, brother!' This was a different voice and Duro turned around to find himself being engulfed in the arms of his brother, familiar laugh once again filling his ears, yet unfamiliar strength in the grip.

'You grow stronger brother,' he commented, pulling away and gazing over Agron's form. He was indeed a terrifying spectacle to behold; more beast than man. He had more scars than Duro could account for. He would have been a fine gladiator, perhaps one of the best if freedom hadn't called them all so invitingly from the abyss.

'A simple enough thing to gain strength and deadly aim in battle, when spilling roman blood is the reward.' Agron swatted at his brother, catching him open palmed across the head and dragging him into a headlock. 'Even now,' Agron was laughing, 'I can best you easily. Should you not have trained? Prepared for my imminent return?'

'We do not train here,' Duro said, pushing his brother away with a scowl. It was embarrassing to be made to look a fool at any time, but as a crowd of friends and brothers had gathered to welcome Agron to this place, he felt yet more foolish. 'We share in drink and fuck and gamble without retribution.'

'Then we shall drink,' Agron agreed, placing a hand at the back of Duro's neck. 'But not before….'

'We have waited some years for you, Agron,' the voice of their old leader spoke unintentionally cutting between the words of brothers. Spartacus, emerging from the crowd with Sura at his side. Agron seemed to frown, confused a little on seeing the woman. Of course, Duro thought, they would never have met.

'Come,' Spartacus grinned, like he never had before he'd come to this place. As though he had never been truly happy before when they'd known him. 'We would have much needed drink and break words towards your life beyond blood and battle.'

Duro saw Agron's eyes flick around the crowd gathered. He knew his brother would be seeing just as many unfamiliar faces among them as familiar. People who held him dear to heart that he'd never met or indeed known about. Duro felt a pang of pride mixed with a few drops of jealousy. He'd lived near constantly in his brother's shadow and the trait seemed set to continue. And now, was he to be pushed aside for a more favourable offer by Spartacus. A brotherhood born of blood was seldom stronger than a brotherhood born of war and death.

'I would be along shortly,' Agron nodded to Spartacus. 'First I would make much needed introductions,' he placed an arm around Duro's shoulders. Duro didn't understand. He knew everyone here better than Agron. Agron would have no idea who the curly-haired blonde man who accompanied Spartacus with a wife at his side was. Duro knew this was Varro. They had been introduced. Agron would not know who the gladiator Pietros stared so angrily at on a near constant basis. Duro didn't know why Pietros bared Auctus such mind. Barca had chosen Pietros, Auctus had found another to satisfy cock.

'Komm mit,' Agron demanded, returning just briefly to their own tongue. 'I would see introduction forged between you and your brother's heart before partaking in wine and long talks of failed glory.'

Duro let a wry smile play across his lips. Of course, the little man his brother had taken so close to heart. The one who'd made him weaker and stronger all at once, the one who had taken care of him and loved him once Duro was no longer able.

'Duro,' his brother stopped him suddenly. He was stood slightly to his side and arm around his shoulder the other outstretched the present the boy. Dark hair, a fierce scar at his side another one across his eye things which detracted from his smallness and made him appear as fierce a warrior as Duro had ever seen. 'This is Nasir, my heart.' Duro almost rolled his eyes to hear his brother so emotional. 'Nasir, my brother Duro.'

'Duro,' Nasir nodded coming forward to greet him like family, with a hug and a wide smile. 'I have heard much talk of you.'

'And I have seen what you have done for my brother,' Duro nodded, returning the hug with less gusto. He could not help it. This was the tiny man he had to share his brother's affections with, this tiny dark or hair, dark of skin man with the distant traces of a Syrian accent no less. A fucking Syrian, all else could be forgiven but not that. Giving your heart to one from a race so untrustworthy was foolish even by Agron's standards. In fact giving your heart at all was not wise, not when you had Agron's preference for cock. You could not marry a man, you could hardly keep him as possession as you could a woman. Boys were mostly whores, ready to part lips and swallow cock of any who presented them with such.

'You seem displeased brother,' Agron frowned. He'd moved to stand beside his boy now. Their difference in height was faintly ridiculous and with the addition of long flowing hair Nasir appeared more woman than man. But he knew better than to argue with his brother about this. This was a problem that would take soft whispers, better concealed under cloak of drink and joyful reunions with brothers.

'Only that we have stood too long near the gate, and not enough time with drink in hand in celebration of your arrival,' he said quickly. 'Come brother, I would have you well plied with drink.'

'Ah, you wish only to see me with clouded mind and foolish thoughts as the sun rises.'

'Not at all,' Duro said firmly. 'In this place, partaking in too much wine gives no vengeance. You shall drink and fuck,' he glanced a little angrily at Nasir, 'all day every day and never feel the sting of its touch.'

Agron let out a raucous little laugh and placed and arm around both Duro and Nasir and the three began to walk towards the celebrations.

* * *

Agron and Nasir sat in a corner as they had spent most of their lives under Spartacus' rule. Corners were the only place for privacy in a villa full of rebels, though of course now they shared their corner with Duro. Nasir did not mind. He knew Agron's love or his brother and would do all that he could to embrace it. He could not remember his own brother's face, just the scream he'd made when they'd been parted. Something in a foreign tongue, words Nasir could barely understand and then his name "Nasir!".

He felt a hand on his face, pulling his gaze from the past and into the face of his lover.

'Something troubles you.'

'No,' Nasir shook his head.

'Come, speak of it and see burden's weight shared and lightened.'

'It is nothing, just an old memory.'

'Do you have regrets?' Agron asked, his eyes were clouded with anxiety. 'The way we came here, it was not as you would have wanted, bathed in blood in unwinnable contest.'

'I want only what you want,' Nasir said firmly. 'I would be at your side, no matter where that would take us.'

'I am sorry that I dragged you to your end,' Agron whispered, no longer able to hold Nasir's gaze and glancing away to their empty wine cups. Duro had gone to find more. He meant to have them all live as Gannicus once had.

'You did not,' Nasir said, clutching both sides of Agron's face. 'I followed you willingly into battle.'

'A foolish battle.'

'Done for good reason, to try and free more women and children from slavery. Agron when Spartacus' people turned to you for leadership you led them to freedom. They still live, tilling land and caring for goats, with no thought of chains or collars or war.'

'There was only one among them I truly cared for, and he lays dead alongside me.'

'But you could not have remained in the mountains with the others, you are a warrior. The gods blessed you as such and they did not make you to milk a goat. They made you to fight upon sands and slay romans. And I would not have seen you to old age in a life that was not for you.'

'But I would have seen you to old age, protected and safe.'

'And alone? I never wanted that,' Nasir smiled, clutching Agron's face. 'I only wanted you. In life on a farm, beside you in battle, and here now in this life.'

'The gods blessed me when they saw fit to give me your love,' Agron whispered, he sounded choked by emotion and his eyes were glistening with more than just drink and candlelight.

'As they blessed me, when they first delivered you to me in foolish pursuit of my dominas' villa.'

'Had I known back then that you were the prize for such a venture, I would have taken the villa sooner,' Agron promised. 'With nothing but my cock as a weapon if that was all I was permitted.'

'A mightier weapon might be needed,' Nasir smiled a little. 'I would not favour your chances against armour and steel.' He couldn't help it. Agron was always so blunt, so honest and it often scared Nasir to make a foolish jest but Agron had learnt his ways by now and smiled back, before kissing him softly.

Duro appeared at that moment, placing drink down on the floor and sitting opposite them.

'Apologies,' he mumbled, when they turned to look at him. 'I overheard your words and would speak now with honest tongue.'

'You do little else,' Agron rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall. 'You are incapable of basic ability to have shit spill from mouth and retain memory of what was said.' Nasir smiled a little at the joke. He knew that Agron and Duro loved each other and fought as one, but that didn't stop the odd jest and jibe being uttered at the other's expense.

'Hmm,' Duro frowned, but seemed to let the comment slide. 'Brother, I doubted this,' he pointed between Nasir and Agron. 'I doubted it when you initially chased him. I did not believe him capable of being loyal to you. He is Syrian. And I thought him to be a boy partial to spreading cheeks for pounding in order to gain himself favour like his whore friend Chadara.'

Nasir growled.

'Take care of what you say in regards to the dead,' Agron snapped.

'We are all dead here brother,' Duro sighed, knocking back the remainder of his wine. It stained his lips a slightly red colour. His cheeks too were flushed with the heat of the liquid. 'Some of us longer than others, and in death a veil we wear whilst living is lifted and we are able to witness a great many more things.' He paused for a second, another sip of his cup though there was no longer wine within it. He sighed and said in barely more than a mutter: 'It was I who entreated the gods to send the Sicilian to make his move.'

'What!' Agron yelled. He was fast and powerful and quicker than his brother, especially in the other man's state. And Agron quickly had Duro pressed against the wall, throat squeezed between wall and forearm.

'Agron!' Nasir yelled, standing too. He remembered having to protect Castus in a similar way once. It was strange now that he should protect the man who'd schemed to put him there.

'Why?' Agron hissed. His eyes were wild and uncontrolled, his grip fierce and without mercy. Nasir wondered if it was possible to die in this place. 'Speak, or find tongue stilled forever.'

'I thought the boy would leave you,' Duro choked out. 'More on to another.'

'Why would you wish for such a thing?' Agron demanded.

'Selfish reasons,' Duro admitted. His words becoming raspier with each moment that passed. 'You had stopped talking to the gods about me.' Agron's grip became weaker at that and Duro shoved him off, disgruntled and angry. 'He made you believe you were as a god. You all began to believe you were gods.' He looked around the men in the room. Spartacus' men, all fallen to the cause. Agron and Nasir were the last to join them. 'The gods turned from you one by one and I knew now that their wrath was vicious. I thought by splitting you two apart, you would return to the gods. Return to their blessings and they would see you safe. Then you followed Crixus into foolish battle and your fate was determined. You were not meant to sustain injury in such battle, but to fight without ones heart beside you weakened you beyond all knowledge. You had nothing to live for and I would not see you turn to the afterlife without knowing that he,' he glared at Nasir, 'remained loyal, even when he thought you passed from that world to this.'

Agron frowned suddenly and turned to Nasir. He hadn't known that for sure and he'd barely dared to hope. He certainly hadn't asked, for fear of offending the Syrian and breaking his own heart when the response was given.

'I realised then that you were stronger together.'

Agron turned to Nasir and offered him a slightly coy smile. One that was often for them in private. It would not do for a warrior and a gladiator to seem even a tiny bit uncertain, especially one held in such high-esteem as Agron is … was.

'It was not a thing I wanted to accept,' Duro admitted. 'To share my brother with a stranger.'

'A stranger no longer,' Nasir said firmly.

'We share in drink and toast to brotherhood and family,' Agron agreed.

'And we three shall be stronger in this life,' Nasir affirmed, touching them both gently on the shoulder. Agron smiled at him in the way he knew he would but Duro nodded, respect in his gaze as a foundation for a brotherly love to build upon.

'I would have you seek your brother too,' Agron said firmly, turning to Nasir.

'I would not know him from a stranger,' Nasir said sadly. 'Many years and many lifetimes passed since I saw his face.'

'You speak of Amittai,' Duro said and Nasir's head snapped up. He nodded. He'd almost forgotten the name, just as he'd almost forgotten his own name. 'He is not yet for this world,' Duro smiled, still intermittently rubbing his throat from where Agron had pinned him. 'Come,' he gestured to Nasir. 'I would show you as your life could have been if you had not met this beastly fool,' he patted Agron warmly on the shoulder and led them across the sands.

* * *

The tent Duro took them to had important red walls, golden trip and a slightly otherworldly feel to the material. It seemed to flow and ebb with the breeze as though it both solid and liquid. Inside, there was nothing save a space in the floor, which swirled with clouds and stars.

'The world beneath us,' Agron whispered, taking a few steps back. He would not fall to such forces.

'And we view it as only the gods can,' Duro smiled. He'd always cared little of retribution for a misdeed. 'Here.' He knelt down and reached into the clouds and swirled a little until they formed the face of a man. He looked much like Nasir, though he was bigger perhaps and a little less worn and battle-scared.

'He is a farmer,' Duro showed them, swirling the image around again to show the man stood with wife at his side and children playing at his feet. 'Nothing remarkable, but he lives a free man's life and his children and wife are well cared for. This one,' he pointed to the only son to run about in the fields, is called Nasir.'

'He does not forget you,' Agron said, pulling Nasir close. The boy felt week against him, like all his strength had taken leave of his body.

'And when he does come here, we shall greet him as family,' Duro said determinedly, patting Nasir on the shoulder.

'I would not wish it for many years,' the boy said quietly. He was gazing down at the scene below a distant look on his face. One which suggested he did not have the ability to express all his emotions at once.

'And we will do much drinking in that time,' Duro smiled, jumping to his feet.

'Is this all you do now?' Agron asked, being guided by his brother back towards their brothers and friends.

'There are no romans here, brother. No reason to seize weapons or fight battles. We but drink and live out the days in the freedom afforded to us.'

'With no purpose?'

'He,' Duro grabbed Agron's face and turned him towards Nasir, who was still staring into the space watching his namesake and his brother catch a goat together. 'He is your purpose now.'

'And your purpose?' Agron asked.

'She stands among us …' Duro smiled. 'Ah, here she is. And I must retire to our bed, she has a fierce appetite.'

Agron watched Duro push through the crowd of brothers to ebrace Saxa as a lover. He frowned. He would not have expected that union, in this life or in many to come. There are others he had known would travel across all worlds and lifetimes; Naevia and Crixus, Onemeas and Mirlita, Gannicus and Sibel, Spartacus and Soura and now he was to join them, with Nasir forever by his side. It seemed a glorious way to spend the afterlife, waiting for others they held dear to join them and drinking and living among those he held most firmly to heart.

'Have you seen Castus?' Nasir asked, placing his head against Agron's bicep to also gaze across the scene.

'No,' Agron tried to remain calm but his blood boiled at the name.

'He seems most taken with that man,' Nasir nodded towards the pair. They were sat with Barca and Pietros though Pietros seemed to be glaring at Castus' new man. Agron did not know why, nor did he care. He only knew of those two through rumour and sordid tales of lies and deceptions, the same ones Duro had heard.

'Well,' Agron said, turning so that they were facing one another. 'Castus did show favour towards fearsome warriors,'

'As do you,' Nasir smiled, reaching up to kiss him.

'No,' Agron shook his head, leaning his head down part of the way. 'I show favour only to you.' And he closed the distance between them.


End file.
